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You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone

The Biography of Nico

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You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone

By: Jennifer Otter Bickerdike
Narrated by: Jennifer Otter Bickerdike, Christa Lewis
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About this listen

A new, definitive biography of the iconic and mysterious singer, Warhol superstar, Velvet Underground collaborator: influential solo artist Nico.

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE ALONE is a new biography of Nico, the mysterious singer best known for her work with the Velvet Underground and her solo album Chelsea Girl. Her life is tangled in myth--much of it of her own invention. Rock and roll cultural historian Jennifer Bickerdike delivers a definitive book that unravels the story while making a convincing case for Nico's enduring importance.

Over the course of her career, Nico was an ever-evolving myth: art film house actress, highly coveted fashion model, Dietrich of Punk, Femme Fatale, Chelsea Girl, Garbo of Goth, The Last Bohemian, Heroin Junkie. Lester Bangs described her as 'a true enigma.' At age 27, Nico became Andy Warhol's newest Superstar, featuring in his one commercial break out hit film Chelsea Girls and garnering the position of chanteuse for the Velvet Underground. It wasn't Nico's musical chops which got her the gig; it was her striking beauty. Her seeming otherworldly and unattainable presence was further amplified by her reputation for dating rock stars (Brian Jones, Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, among others). She became famous for being Nico.

Yet Nico's talent and her contribution to rock culture are often overlooked. She spent most of her career as a solo artist on the road, determined to make music, seemingly against all the odds, enduring empty concert halls, abusive fans, and the often perilous reality of being an ageing artist and drug addict. She created mesmerizing and unique projects that inspired a generation of artists, including Henry Rollins, Morrissey, Siousxie Sioux and the Banshees and Iggy Pop.

Drawing on the archives at the Andy Warhol Museum and at Nico's record labels, various private collections, and rarely seen footage, and featuring exclusive new interviews from those who knew her best, including Iggy Pop and Danny Fields, and those inspired by her legacy, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL AND YOU ARE ALONE reveals the complicated, often compromised, self-destructive and always head strong woman behind the one-dimensional myths.

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A great biography - comprehensive & gives a full picture of Nico’s life - sadly lacking until now -much enjoyed & recommended !

Comprehensive & fascinating

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One of the most moving biographies I have ever read. Nico deserves far more recognition than she currently has.

Heart rending

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I felt a bit duped here. The sample is the authors introduction. She has a gutsy delivery, and as the author brings an authenticity to this part of the text. I normally only buy audio books where the author narrates. Otherwise you have to listen to a ‘professional’ who invariably inflicts some level of ‘acting’.

This narrator is the school of American lightweight tv anchor and renders any mildly intelligent content moronic. The book is okay and Nico is an interesting person but ultimately there is not much there to say, if there is than what is commonly known (the author more or less tells you this in her intro) this book does not quite succeed. Though it might be better than my review relays, once you see through the minor tv channel ‘style’ narration.

The narrator: why or why?

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